Who are The Inhumans?

In mid-November 2016, Marvel Studios announced there were finally official plans in place to bring The Inhumans to the MCU. An Inhumans movie has been in development for half a decade, so hearing about this project finally being green-lit was a sign of good things for Marvel Comics fans. As the days and weeks have rolled along, we’ve barely gotten any news. All we know so far is that Inhumans will not be a film, but instead, an 8 episode event to be aired on ABC in the United States. We also know that the first two episodes will debut in IMAX cinemas across the world as a feature length event film.

Over the past week and a half, news has started to trickle out from Marvel about who will be leading the project. Earlier this week, it was confirmed that Anson Mount (Hell on Wheels, Non-Stop) will be playing series lead Black Bolt, and it was confirmed that Serinda Swan (Graceland, Percy Jackson) will be playing his wife, Medusa. It was also announced in February that Iwan Rheon (Game of Thrones, Misfits) will be playing the show’s villain, Maximus the Mad. Filming for Inhumans is expected to begin later this month in Hawaii. We are expecting more casting updates over the next week or two.

Another tidbit that was revealed is that the Inhumans TV series will not continue the Inhumans story-line from Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD, and instead, will focus on the Inhuman Royal Family, as well as being located in Attilan. And I mean sure, I can talk to you about how good this will be. But you probably have no idea what, who, or where I am talking about when I bring all of this information up. So I am going to give you a rundown of what, where and who are The Inhumans.

The Inhumans were originally created by The Kree. Upon establishing a base on Uranus (tehehehehehe), The Kree saw that there were people on Earth, so they started to abduct them and experiment on them for two reasons. Firstly, they wanted to find a way to fix the stagnation in their evolution, and to raise an army of soldiers to help them battle the Skrulls in the Kree/Skrull War. While the experiments were a complete success, a prophecy about an anomaly being created against the Kree Supreme Intelligence if they continued, caused them to abandon the experiments and the Inhumans they created. The Inhumans that remained returned to Earth, then created their own society of Attlian that we know today.

The Inhumans are exposed to a ritual performed by Inhumans called Terrigenesis, which is the result of exposing Inhumans to vapor from the Terrigen Crystals (we saw these in Agents of SHIELD in season two). By doing this, it alters the DNA of Inhumans, which gives them additional powers to the natural powers they already have as Inhumans. The current Ms. Marvel in the comics (Kamala Khan) has also been revealed to be an Inhuman, and has also been exposed to Terrigenesis.

A map of Attilan.

Now, for the “where”. The city of Attilan is the ancestral home for The Inhumans. It was named after Atlantis, the city that disappeared under the sea. Attilan has been known to relocate a few times, due to the risk of the Inhuman’s sanctuary being potentially exposed to the rest of the world. Originally, Attilan was located on an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, then was relocated to The Himalayas. After realizing that The Himalayas weren’t quite remote enough for them to hide, they decided to move to their now current base in The Blue Area of the Moon.

The Blue Area of the Moon is a habitable part of Earth’s moon, created as part of a competition by two alien races (The Kree and the Cotati) as to which race could achieve more within a set time period. The Skrulls oversaw the competition to ensure fairness in the competition, as they were a partisan party in this competition. The Kree were given Earth’s moon, while the Cotati were taken to another part of the universe that was incredibly barren. The Kree managed to make The Blue Area of the Moon habitable, but upon hearing that the Cotati were on the verge of winning the competition, the Kree went on to massacre the Cotati, then they attacked the Skrulls and started the millennia-long Kree/Skrull War.

Anson Mount will portray Black Bolt.

The Inhumans Royal Family is lead by Black Bolt. While he has insane strength, stamina, reflexes, agility and speed, he can also fly and has a grasp on how to use telepathy (He uses this to talk to Medusa and Lockjaw). His most well known ability is his hyper-sonic voice. A full scream has been known to destroy planets. He taught himself to stay quiet, and has been known to use sign language to communicate when required.

Serinda Swan will portray Medusa.

Medusa is Black Bolts wife, and Queen of The Blue Side of the Moon. She rules alongside her husband, and acts as a mouthpiece for him. Medusa also has long, red hair that can be used at her will. She’s been known to move things, apprehend people and stretch her hair to create barriers. She can also split her hair into individual strands and have them all do separate things at once. Unlike most Inhumans, Medusa’s immune system is not weak, as she has traveled to the universe outside of The Blue Area of the Moon, and has been able to teach her body to adapt to the different environments. Before joining the Inhuman Royal Family, she was a thief.

Crystal.

Crystal is Medusa’s sister. Her abilities include being able to harness the powers of the four main elements (fire, wind, water and earth), as well as electrical, ice and weather manipulation. She can also fly. Her history is very large, however she does hold the distinction of being the first identified Inhuman in Marvel Comics, as she was introduced as an Inhuman in the Fantastic Four comic. She teamed up with the Fantastic Four, taking Sue Storm’s place while she was pregnant with Franklin’s child, and grew close to The Thing and Johnny Storm. After that, she fell in love with Quicksilver and had a child. She also has a close friendship with Lockjaw.

Lockjaw and Crystal.

Lockjaw is the Royal Family’s bulldog. He is insanely huge. He, like the Inhumans, has abilities, which include being able to teleport people, precognition and super strength with his jaw. He also has served as an escort to the Royal Family, and has teleported the Inhumans to Earth and back when they moved to the Moon.

Triton.

Triton is Black Bolt’s cousin, and brother to Karnak. Like Black Bolt, Triton also has enhanced strength, stamina, reflexes, agility and speed. When Triton was exposed to Terrigenesis as a child, he suffered from an extreme reaction. His skin turned green and gave him the ability to breathe underwater. However, because of his extreme reaction to Terrigensis, he cannot live outside of water, and had a special habitat built in Attilan so he could live.

Karnak.

Karnak is Black Bolt’s cousin, and brother to Triton. While born an Inhuman, Karnak was disallowed by his parents to undergo Terrigenesis, and instead was sent to a monastery to learn martial arts. His abilities include being able to sense vulnerable points to exploit, naturally enhanced physicality, and extreme skills in hand to hand combat. The character became so popular in the Inhumans story, that in 2015, he was given a solo series.

Gorgon.

Gorgon is Black Bolt’s cousin. When exposed to Terrigenesis, his physiology changed, and he was given hooves for feet that are able to emit strong seismic waves. He also has enhanced strength and durability. Gorgon has been more of a background character, but has always been a part of the fight.

Iwan Rheon will portray Maximus the Mad.

Maximus the Mad is Black Bolt’s brother, and has been known to be both in support and opposition of the Inhumans Royal Family. The best real comparison I can give is how Loki is used in the MCU. Maximus’s powers include an incredible understanding of science, with physics and biology being the main points of knowledge, as well as supreme intelligence and mental abilities (which allow him to mess with minds). A bit of backstory on him though is that when Black Bolt was being released from a protective chamber used to prevent him from destroying Attilan, Maximus tried to get Black Bolt to use his ability to show the rest of Attilan that Black Bolt couldn’t control his powers, and that he was a danger to Attilan. When Black Bolt was given the throne to rule, Maximus promised to dethrone his brother, who he felt was unworthy.

How would you feel about this version of the Inhumans making it’s way to IMAX and TV? Let us know in the comments below!